EU citizens increasingly prefer to spend their holidays in traditional tourist destinations (57 percent), while 28 percent would rather go “off the beaten track” to emerging destinations.

Tourism is one of Europe’s most important service industries, accounting for five percent of Europe’s GDP and six percent of employment.

Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship, said: “The 2010 survey results are encouraging for the tourism industry. We need to work further on developing the tourism industry, which ranks third in terms of GDP and employment in Europe.

“The Lisbon Treaty now gives us the opportunity to tackle this sector from a European perspective. Nearly 50 percent of EU residents have already decided that they will go on holiday in 2010 and their perceptions about being able to finance their holidays have also slightly improved.”

“Local attractiveness” is cited as the major factor (32 percent) when choosing holiday destinations, followed by “cultural heritage” (25 percent) and “entertainment possibilities” (16 percent).

Seeking “rest and recreation” (37 percent) is the main motivation for EU citizens to travel, followed by “sun and beach” (19 percent) and “visiting friends and relatives” (17 percent).

Spain, with a share of 10.4 percent was the most popular destination in 2008 and 2009 and dominates also the current plans made for 2010. It is closely followed by France (9.9 percent) and Italy (9.2 percent). However, 17 percent of EU residents planning to go on holiday in 2010 have not yet decided on the destination.

Currently, just over two percent of Europeans said they would choose Portugal as their holiday destination in 2010.

Meanwhile, the proportion of those still undecided about their vacation plans for 2010 were the highest in Italy and Portugal (both 35 percent).

Over 30,000 randomly selected citizens aged 15 and over were interviewed for the Eurobarometer survey in February 2010 in the 27 EU Member States as well as in Norway, Iceland, Croatia, Turkey and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It is the third time in a row that the European Commission has done such an extensive survey, which offers to all tourism stakeholders a wealth of information, presented analytically in both country and demographic categories.

The Commission intends to conduct this kind of survey once a year in order to closely follow the short and medium term travel and tourism trends of European citizens. These surveys will allow tourism stakeholders of the countries surveyed to react to changing trends in tourism demand, and so will constitute an important instrument for tourism policy.

The 98-page study can be found by visiting: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom